The book has been selected for students and community members participating in the annual community book read sponsored by the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, with an official kick-off event slated for January and a presentation by the book’s author in March.

 

The book for “Read This!,” a year-long program of literacy from campus to community, will be “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, according to Dr. Joe Hardin of Fort Smith, dean of the College of Languages and Communication.

 

O’Brien’s book, a fictional work based on his service in Vietnam, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The book was also named in 2006 by the New York Times as one of the 22 best books of the last 25 years.

 

The French edition of O’Brien’s novel received the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, one of France’s highest literary awards. The title story from the book received the National Magazine Award and was selected by John Updike for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories of the Century.

 

“Blending the factual account of his service in Vietnam with the narrative of a novel, ‘The Things They Carried’ is as important for what it reveals about the power of storytelling and problem of memory as it is for what it says about the harsh realities of war,” said Hardin.

 

Hardin believes community members and students will benefit from participating in the community read program.

 

“Students in first-year English Composition classes will be reading the book and offering panels on their work,” he said. “We invite high school groups, reading clubs, nursing homes and interested individuals to read and participate in this year-long celebration of reading.”

 

In addition to the Jan. 28 book launch kick-off event and the lecture by O’Brien on March 12, the College of Languages and Communications has also scheduled a read-aloud session on Feb. 27 and a film screening for a film that ties to the topic, slated for March 3. All events are free and open to the public. Faculty members are also available to discuss the book with local book clubs.

 

Hardin said “Read This!” encourages public literacy by sponsoring reading and discussion on relevant topics in a way that brings together students, faculty and the community.

 

O’Brien also received the National Book Award in Fiction in 1979 for his novel “Going After Cacciato.” His novel “In the Lake of the Woods,” published in 1994, was chosen by Time magazine as the best novel of that year.

 

In 2010, O’Brien received the Katherine Anne Porter Award, presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters for a distinguished body of work. In 2013, O’Brien received the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation. In November of this year, O’Brien will receive a lifetime achievement award from the Pritzker Military Library.

 

His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic, Esquire, Playboy, Harper’s and numerous editions of The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Best American Short Stories.  His novels have sold more than three million copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages.

 

In the past four years, the “Read This!” program has chosen Charles Portis’s “True Grit,” Simon Weisenthals’ “The Sunflower” and Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”

 

“We also presented talks by Holocaust survivor Eva Kor and animal expert and autism activist Temple Grandin,” said Hardin.

 

For more information on participating in the community book read program, contact faculty members Dr. Erik Carlson, by telephone at 479-788-7535 or by email at erik.carlson@uafs.edu, or Dr. Keith Fudge, by telephone at 479-788-7265 or by email at keith.fudge@uafs.edu, or Hardin by telephone at 479-788-7291 or by email at joe.hardin@uafs.edu.